How we use your personal information - general

1. Why have I been directed to this webpage?

The general information published on this page is intended to supplement the specific information that you have already been given in connection with your engagement with a particular service, facility, event or initiative run by the University. You may have been directed here, for example, because you are accessing an optional staff or student service or using a University facility, or because you are using a particular website or online resource, or because you have signed up to attend an event aimed at prospective students or members of the public. The below information – which we are obliged to supply you with – is the same for many such situations, and we thought it would be helpful to have it in one place.

Separate pages aimed at different types of individual whose information we use regularly (applicants, students, alumni and supporters, job applicants and staff, and research participants) all are available from https://www.information-compliance.admin.cam.ac.uk/data-protection.

2. Who will process my personal information?

The information published here applies to the use of your personal information by the University of Cambridge (https://www.cam.ac.uk/), including its Departments, Institutes and Research Centres/Units, and including through the viewing or use of any websites within the University of Cambridge domain. Each of the 31 Cambridge Colleges (https://map.cam.ac.uk/colleges) is a separate legal entity for these purposes and will supply its own information as relevant and necessary.

You have already been told about the specific purposes for which we process your personal information, the legal basis for that processing and (if applicable) any data sharing or international transfer arrangements. Unless you have already been told otherwise, there is no statutory or contractual requirement to supply us with any of your personal information, and we will not use it to carry out any automated decision-making that affects you. If we asked for your consent to use your personal information, you can withdraw this at any time.

As well as the specific purposes and data sharing arrangements you have already been told about, please note that the University may need to use or share your personal data to comply with a range of standard statutory, legal and regulatory requirements.

3. How can I access my personal information?

You have the right to access the personal information that is held about you by the University. Further details are published at https://www.information-compliance.admin.cam.ac.uk/data-protection/subject-access-request.

You also have the right to ask us to correct any inaccurate personal information we hold about you, to delete personal information, or otherwise restrict our processing, or to object to processing (including the receipt of direct marketing) or to receive an electronic copy of the personal information you provided to us. Please note that all of these rights are qualified in various ways.

4. How long is my information kept?

Information about how long different types of information are retained by the University is published at https://www.information-compliance.admin.cam.ac.uk/records-management.

5. Who can I contact?

If you have any questions about how your personal information is used, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please consult the University’s data protection webpages at https://www.information-compliance.admin.cam.ac.uk/data-protection. If you need further assistance, please contact the University’s data protection team (data.protection@admin.cam.ac.uk) or its Data Protection Officer (dpo@admin.cam.ac.uk).

6. How do I complain?

You have the right to make a data protection complaint to the University. Please see the information published at https://www.information-compliance.admin.cam.ac.uk/data-protection/data-protection-complaints. 

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (see https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/). 

7. Are changes made to this webpage?

This webpage was last reviewed in June 2026. It is reviewed when necessary and at least annually. Any changes will be published here.